Judy’s Comments (group member since Oct 01, 2015)

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I've started reading this one and am enjoying the early chapters - I'll be interested to see how it develops. The combination of war and light-hearted banter is quite intriguing.

I didn't like this much first time around, but this time I really enjoyed it, especially Miss Marple, and disagreed with my own review! I had to change my rating from 2 to 4 stars. :)

I do still think some aspects of the plot are weak, but I find the characters and the writing style really enjoyable, even though I remembered who the villain was. The bit about Gina being the daughter of a murderer is weird - maybe that is where the killer got the idea of the arsenic red herring?

Last call for nominations!
We have:

Jan: The Two Tickets Puzzle by JJ Conington

Susan: Death Walks in Eastrepps by Francis Beeding

Susan in NC: The Chinese Shawl by Patricia Wentworth

The poll will go up tomorrow

The Chinese Shawl is £2.99 on Kindle in the UK so that's fine - all 3 nominations so far looking good for availability.

P.S. I can see why this is one of the few Christie books that has never been filmed - there isn't really much of a story. It feels rather like a short story that has been padded out, but it was nice to see T & T one more time.

I was interested to see that Christie introduces a character called Mr Crispin (not sure if his name was spelt like that as I listened to the audio book) and wondered if this was a tribute to Edmund, as a fellow-member of the Detection Club! There is a lot of nostalgia in this book, with Tommy and Tuppence reminiscing about their past, so it would go with that.

I was also interested in a bit where Tuppence starts to discuss Richard III, and says that nowadays people are always writing books saying he didn't kill the Princes in the Tower, but she doesn't agree. This seemed a bit like Christie having her say over The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey!

The daughter did come in later on in the book and showed a dismissive and bossy attitude, so you were right, Jackie.

Sandy wrote: "I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. I found the mystery and the characters fascinating. I will miss the slimy reporter as he goes off to London. ..."

This is just what I felt - I wasn't looking forward to this one but got really caught up in it and found it hard to put down. Rebus is a great character - I'm hoping he will be less troubled in the following books and that we won't get so many flashbacks, but anyway am looking forward to seeing him again.

I'm now also ready for some lighter fare after our latest batch of buddy reads.

Thank you for the nomination, Jan. I've just checked and there are at least 3 Kindle editions in the UK, priced from 99p to £2.99, with some having a slightly different title, The Two Ticket Puzzle. The Murder Room edition is called The Two Tickets Puzzle - I think that looks like the best one as it has an introduction by Curtis Evans and a map at the start.

P.S. I like the fact that Miss Marple gets off the train at Market Kindle!

I've just started rereading this one - I see I gave it a low rating last time around but don't remember why. Enjoying it so far but I haven't read very much yet.

Just came across this great line: "Mildred married a Canon Strete - a nice man but given to colds in the head."

It's time to nominate for our February 2026 group read. Please nominate books which were either written in the Golden Age, or a little earlier or later, or are set in that period. If in doubt whether a title is eligible, just ask.

Usual rules apply. Only one nomination per group member. Only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month, and authors can't nominate their own books. If you aren't sure whether we have read something, the group bookshelves may help, or just ask. If it was at least 3 years ago that we read it, it's fine to re-nominate.

Ruth, he says he thinks the new series is worth seeing and he does really enjoy it, although he thinks it doesn't have the same magic as the original and isn't as close to the books. I've seen bits and it does have some good actors, especially Samuel West as Siegfried.

It is a good title, thanks again. I think I slightly preferred the first book, partly because Bernie seemed more sympathetic in that one. His attitudes are sometimes hard to take in this book.

It was interesting to see the note at the end about the real characters mentioned, and how they were involved in real scandals at around this time.

Frances wrote: "Can someone comment on the level of graphic violence in these books? I had enjoyed the first one until the horrific ending so chose not to read this series further..."

There was quite a lot of graphic violence in this one too, Frances. I have now finished. The quality of the writing carried me through but I found it quite a difficult read because of that, and had to skim over some sections.

Thanks for opening these threads up, Susan. I haven't started rereading yet but will soon.

I will just link the spoiler thread below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've started this one now after finishing the Bernie Gunther book - I can only take serial killer at a time! I found the opening page very grim and almost gave up, but now that I'm into the police procedural side I'm enjoying it more.

Rebus seems to be a very flawed hero. Interesting that he is religious, which I think is quite unusual for a fictional detective.

I've finished this now - well written but very grim and some parts were hard to read, not surprisingly. I was also wondering about the title, so thank you for the explanation, Susan.

My husband absolutely loves the Herriot books, Jan, and the TV adaptations too.

I agree. Loved the characters but couldn't get into the plot at all. Hannibal is great.